Content Analysis and the Algorithmic Coder

Rodrigo Zamith and Seth C. Lewis

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2015, vol. 659, issue 1, 307-318

Abstract: To deal with ever-larger datasets, media scholars are increasingly using computational analytic methods. This article focuses on how the traditional (manual) approach to conducting a content analysis—a primary method in the study of media messages—is being reconfigured, assesses what is gained and lost in turning to computational solutions, and builds on a “hybrid†approach to content analysis. We argue that computational methods are most fruitful when variables are readily identifiable in texts and when source material is easily parsed. Manual methods, though, are most appropriate for complex variables and when source material is not well digitized. These modes can be effectively combined throughout the process of content analysis to facilitate expansive and powerful analyses that are reliable and meaningful.

Keywords: content analysis; computational social science; computational content analysis; hybrid content analysis; digital research methods; media analysis; algorithms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:659:y:2015:i:1:p:307-318

DOI: 10.1177/0002716215570576

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